British Mountaineer and Everest summiter: The Alan Hinkes Mystery

The Alan Hinkes Mystery: Could it be the plan for a movie? No! It is just Alan.... At last count he was on Kangchenjunga with just his Sherpa...

Rumours are around the Himalaya about Alan, but at the moment these are all unconfirmed. Alan set out for a summit attempt over the weekend when the weather was looking favourable.  With no other expeditions on Kangchenjunga news is scarce

News reports in the UK have heralded a success but these reports are very ambiguous and have gone short of any concrete announcement of success.  We're hoping to hear from Alan in the next couple of days and as soon as we do we'll be shouting it from the rooftops.  We wish him a speedy ascent and descent to Base camp.

Background

Alan Hinkes has announced his final Challenge 8000 expedition. Alan will be flying out to the Himalaya at the end of March to climb Kangchenjunga and if successful will enter the history books as the first Briton and only one of 12 people to have stood at the top of all of the world’s 8000m peaks.

As part of Challenge 8000, Alan has reached the top of 13 of the world’s most famous and dangerous mountains, including Everest, K2 and Nanga Parbat and in 2002 he became the first Britain to climb Annapurna in 32 years and in record time via a new route. All of these mountains are in the “Death Zone”, an unforgiving environment where the human body rapidly deteriorates and no one can survive for more than a few days.

Kangchenjunga (8586m) is the third highest peak in the world. Alan had to previously abandon an attempt on the mountain in May 2000 following bad weather conditions; while on his descent a snow bridge collapsed across a crevasse and he fell into it, breaking his arm. Having encountered the giant before Alan knows, like its fellow 8000ers it is a very dangerous mountain and one for which he has to prepare meticulously.

Alan comments: "Kangchenjunga lies at the eastern extreme of the Himalaya and is exposed to exceptionally bad weather conditions as the monsoon period moves in. This isn’t my first visit to Kangchenjunga and I know what lies in store, the terrain is very difficult and once on the mountain there is a very serious danger of avalanche and rockfall. I am however not worried, it feels like I am returning to an old friend and I am really looking forward to it. As I have always said I climb to live, not to die - the summit is always optional but returning is mandatory.”

Alan Hinkes has been working with Berghaus since the early 1980s and will be using many of the company’s most technical products whilst on expedition.

From 2004: Alan Hinkes Summits Dhaulagiri! and Alan Hinkes Summits Dhaulagiri more details and Mountaineer Alan Hinkes returns to Kathmandu following successful summit of Dhaulagiri

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